The White House(SAN FRANCISCO) -- President Obama faced a tough crowd at a Chinese community center in San Francisco on Monday as he pushed for immigration reform.

Audience members interrupted Obama's speech, shouting that their family members faced deportation and argued that the President could stop it with his own executive authority.

A man standing on the riser behind the President interrupted him as he was wrapping up his remarks.

"You have a power to stop deportation for all," the man shouted.

"Actually, I don't," the president said. "And that's why we're here."

"If in fact I could solve all these problems without passing laws in Congress, then I would do so," he continued. "But we're also a nation of laws. That's part of our tradition."

Earlier in his remarks, the President outlined the need for comprehensive reform and said "it's up to Republicans in the House to decide if we can move forward as a country on this bill."

In the Thanksgiving spirit, he said, "We can carve that bird into multiple pieces. A drumstick here and breast meat there. But as long as all the pieces get done soon, and we actually deliver on the core values we've been talking about for so long, I think everybody's fine with it. They're not worried about the procedures. They just want the result."

"My message to Congress is, rather than create problems, let's prove Washington can get something done," he said.